Immigration Crackdown in Arizona

Guest Author - Stephanie Romero

The immigration crackdown in Arizona is really starting to heat up. Lawsuits are beginning to be filed and boycotts are on the rise. No surprise, we even have celebrities getting involved. As expected, they are against the new law. However, like many others who oppose, they arenít offering any real solutions to how the illegal immigration problem can be solved.

Two celebrities in particular that made their case for opposing the new law was pop-singer Shakira and music singer, Linda Ronstadt. However, the latest Gallup poll showed that 51% of Americans favor the new AZ immigration law, while 39% oppose it.

Actually, I am quite surprised that itís as high as 51%, since the media coverage about this has been very slanted in the direction of opposing the new law.

I donít know if I am the only one but I get pretty tired when every time there is an issue that comes up, it turns into something racial. Racial profiling seems to be the biggest concern with this new law that is meant to protect the citizens of Arizona. Yet somehow, once again, it has been turned into an issue of race.

No one seems to understand that within the law, racial profiling is specifically prohibited. There has to be a reason for a police officer to stop someone. With or without this new immigration law, there had to have been a legitimate reason to stop and question someone. This law is not meant to just randomly pick people who have dark skin so that they can be questioned.

Of course the question is could police officers take advantage of this? Is racial profiling possible? It is always possible, no matter what our laws are and no matter what the circumstance is. We live in a world where ignorant people will be a part of racial profiling and sadly, we cannot really stop it. It exists and will continue to exist but this law should not be used as a reason to fail to protect the citizens of Arizona. Even without this law, the possibility is still there that police officers could stop someone because of their race. And not just in Arizona, it could happen anywhere.

I do believe this issue has gotten out of hand. It has been turned into more than it should be. It has only served as another wall to build up and divide the people of this country, when the intentions from the beginning were really to protect citizens.